Lot 125 Dα

The Bible contains several stories in which characters meet by a well. These include the meeting of Eliezer and Rebecca and that of Jacob and his later wife Rachel. The present work from the circle of the Flemish painter Frans Wouters depicts the more seldom scene of Moses meeting with the seven daugters of Jethro, Priest of Midian, which is told in chapter 2 of the 2nd book of Moses. According to the Bible, the young Moses fled to Midian after killing an Egyptian overseer, and there he met the seven daughters of Jethro. He rescued the women from the shepherds who had driven them away from the well and then watered their animals. One of the seven daughters later became Moses' wife.